Conventionally, various kinds of contact mechanism that, in an electromagnetic relay, electromagnetic contactor, or the like, extinguish an arc generated when contacts are opened to cause a movable contact to move away from a fixed contact in order to change from a closed condition of the contact mechanism, wherein the fixed contact and movable contact are contacting each other, to an opened condition by interrupting the current have been proposed as a contact device wherein switching of a current path is carried out.
For example, an electromagnetic switching device including a pair of fixed contacts, each having a fixed contact point, disposed to be separated by a predetermined distance from each other, a movable contact having a movable contact point at the left and right ends thereof, disposed so as to be capable of contacting to and separating from the pair of fixed contacts, an electromagnet device driving the movable contact, and an enclosing member that houses the movable contact and fixed contacts, wherein an arc extinguishing permanent magnet is disposed parallel with the movable contact on the outer side of the enclosing member, has been proposed (for example, refer to PTL 1).